Florida women beat Ohio State, advance to play 35-0 Baylor

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – Florida's double-digit lead had been cut to two points by Ohio State with just over a minute left in a first-round women's NCAA tournament game Sunday.

The Gators didn't panic and Jaterra Bonds made 3-of-4 free throws in the final 12 seconds to help seal Florida's 70-65 victory over Ohio State. The Gators, now 20-12 overall, face Baylor, 35-0, on Tuesday at 7 p.m. with the winner advancing to the Sweet 16.

Florida held a 10-point lead, 59-49, with 7:22 remaining. Then missed shots and turnovers helped Ohio State to get back into the game.

Florida had three straight turnovers with the third leading to a layup by OSU's Tayler Hill, cutting the Gators' lead to 65-63 with 1:01 left. Florida then called a time out.

"The turnovers weren't because of anything they had done defensively to us. We just didn't do a good job of making decisions with the ball," Florida head coach Amanda Butler said. "We just wanted to be calm, get our bearings. 'Let's not freak out. We got a lead. We're on good position.'

"At the end of the huddle after giving all those instructions, I told all of them: 'Look at me, we're going to win y' all, we've got this,' Butler continued. "Their looks back were very confident and at moment I did have a little bit of a sigh of relief, just because of the way they looked."

After the time out, the Gators went back inside to Jennifer George and she hit a short left-handed hook with 45 seconds left to push her team up 67-73. George is from Bishop Moore High School in Orlando.

After an OSU miss, Florida won the scramble for the loose ball and Jordan Jones was fouled.